Los Angeles, California - Comedian Jimmy Kimmel recently responded to President Donald Trump having a meltdown over the return of his late-night show.
On Tuesday, President Trump shared a Truth Social post reacting to news that ABC had decided to lift its suspension of Kimmel's show, which came after the comedian made comments during a monologue about the recent assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.
On Wednesday night, Kimmel delivered the second monologue since his return, during which he picked apart Trump's post line by line.
"The Mad Red Hatter wrote, 'I can't believe ABC fake news gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,'" Kimmel began.
"You can't believe they gave me my job back? I can't believe we gave you your job back!" he joked, referencing Trump's re-election win earlier this year.
Kimmel went on to point to the president threatening to sue the network for reinstating him, to which he said, "Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn't threatening ABC by threatening ABC."
The comedian later opened up, revealing that he talks about Trump so much because "he's a bully."
"I don't like bullies. I played the clarinet in high school, OK? So I just don't like him. Donald Trump is an old-fashioned '80s movie style bully, taking your lunch money – and if you give it to him once, he'll take it again."
How Jimmy Kimmel's show nearly got cancelled
In the wake of Kirk's death, Trump and his administration have used the incident to launch a crackdown on anything they deem radical leftist organizations, and have ramped up attacks on free speech that is in any way critical of the president or his MAGA allies.
Kimmel's cancellation came after Trump's Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr insisted that Kimmel made disparaging comments about Kirk – though the remarks actually focused on criticizing Trump – and suggested that ABC's license be revoked if they do not address the comedian's remarks.
Several broadcasters that own dozens of ABC affiliates then announced they would not be airing the show at all.
The cancellation led to heavy backlash from fans and free speech advocates, sparking protests and boycotts of both ABC and Disney, forcing the companies to reverse their decision.
Upon his return on Tuesday, Kimmel's show pulled in more than six million viewers, even as the show remained unavailable to almost a quarter of American households.